Something for both sides to take home

Dublin 0-18 Kilkenny 2-18:THE STATUS quo remained intact, but revolution is in the air.

A Leinster final which might well have been a rout retained a surprising and enjoyable competitive edge right to the final whistle in Croke Park yesterday and, if Kilkenny emerged yet again clutching the Bob O’Keeffe Cup, Dublin finished the day reassured that they are moving up through hurling’s pecking order.

Six points down at half-time having conceded a naive sort of goal to Martin Comerford who was a thorn in their side throughout, Dublin managed to prevent Kilkenny stretching that margin any further after the break.

And if Hill 16 wasn’t full on the day, it was still a novel sound to hear the partisan chanting and singing roll down from the terrace as the realisation dawned that Dublin hadn’t come along to be whipping boys for the day.

Last time Kilkenny played championship in Croke Park they dismembered Waterford. A six-point margin and a gutsy performance is what most Dublin hurling people would have settled for beforehand.

Kilkenny, for their part, will wonder if Dublin were that good or if their formidable side is beginning to show signs of wear and tear. Every game which Kilkenny play on the way to the putative four-in-a-row is a major event. The opposition throw the kitchen sink and all manner of haberdashery at them. Kilkenny absorb the blows and bruises and press on.

So it was yesterday. Yet three of their six forwards struggled to make a significant impact and in midfield their fortunes ebbed and flowed.

Early on, the sides having exchanged a point apiece, there were signs that Kilkenny were ready to cut loose as only they can. Eddie Brennan, under pressure 21 yards out on the right touchline, found the space to get his shot away and he spliced the bars with it. Henry Shefflin and Derek Lyng had the next two scores and suddenly Dublin looked like boys using their fingers to plug an ever -increasing number of holes in a dam. But Brennan didn’t score again and Richie Power was held scoreless while Aidan Fogarty had a couple of points but was generally restricted.

Dublin had cut the deficit to just a point when a little piece of innocence cost them dearly. Three Dublin backs converged on the one ball and none of them got a stick to it when it bolted free and into the path of Martin Comerford who had broken from the centre forward position. Comerford lifted, carried and dispatched the bal with his boot to the corner of the net.

Not for the last time Dublin were left to wonder how things might have been if they had Ronan Fallon in their half back line. That’s life though.

Dublin worked hard but Kilkenny, with the tonic of a goal under their belts, put together a little run of four points in a row .

Dublin having brought Alan McCrabbe and Shane Durkin to midfield, permitting Johnny McCaffrey to drop back as an extra defender, were finding it difficult to find their own men when they broke from defence and the space created by having just five forwards just never seemed to be adequately exploited.

Kilkenny just weren’t able to find that consistent rhythm which kills teams off for good. They were six ahead at the break but Dublin came out and with surprising confidence scored the first three points of the second half. The sound of the gauntlet being thrown down so audaciously brought the crowd of 29,424 to life and even the Kilkenny segment in the attendance there merely to applaud the safe return of the silverware became interested and engaged. We had a game on our hands.

Dublin grew more adventurous and began to exploit the pace and ability of their corner forwards David ‘Dotsy’ O’Callaghan and David Treacy. The latter in particular showed his pedigree with three fine scores in the course of the afternoon, his cheek symbolising the promise of Anthony Daly’s young side.

For some things of course there are no answers. Tommy Walsh swashbuckling forward for a fine Kilkenny point just when his side needed exactly that. Or the diligent and selfless creation of space by the Kilkenny forward line, even by those players not making imprints on the scoreboard. In the 55th minute Martin Comerford inflicted his second serious wound on Dublin’s psyche when the Dublin defence parted like a pair of elevator doors for him to make a gangly run down the centre and plunder his second goal.

Shefflin added a quick score from a free and Kilkenny were seven points clear with 15 minutes left. We expected the rest of the afternoon to be as ritualistic as a bullfight once the animal is wounded.

Dublin clung on however. Tomás Brady was penalised for pulling and dragging but the resultant penalty from Shefflin was saved and when Eoin Larkin drove it back across the square, Comerford, free again, just failed to get his stick to it as it passed the far post. His hat-trick denied, he smiled ruefully.